1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a sliding type portable terminal in which a pair of housings are connected with each other while facing each other and reciprocately move in a straight direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, portable terminals may be classified into bar type terminals, flip type terminals and folder type terminals.
A bar type terminal has a single body housing on which data input/output units and transmitter/receiver units are arranged. Thus, a keypad on this terminal, including the data input units of the keypad, is always exposed and thereby likely to be operated erroneously. In addition, because a distance between the transmitter unit and receiver unit must be maintained, there is a limitation in the compactness of the bar type terminals.
A flip type terminal has a body, a flip and a hinge module connecting the body and the flip to each other. In the flip type terminal, the body has data input/output units and transmitter/receiver units arranged thereon and the flip covers the keypad including its data input units, thereby preventing erroneous operation. However, this terminal is also subject to the limitation for compactness because the distance between the transmitter unit and receiver unit must be maintained.
A folder type terminal has a body, a folder, and a hinge module pivotally connecting the body and the folder to each other. The folder type terminal is opened and closed by rotating the folder, thereby preventing the erroneous operation of the keypad in standby mode in which the folder is folded onto the body. Also, the folder is unfolded in the calling mode so as to provide a sufficient distance between the transmitter unit and receiver unit. Thus, the folder type terminal has a beneficial advantage in compactness. For this reason, the folder type terminal has been very popular amongst all types of portable terminals.
Meanwhile, according to design variety for portable terminals, sliding type terminals have been recently commercialized. A sliding type terminal includes a pair of housings, one of which slides on another to open and close the terminal. Sliding type terminals are becoming as popular as the folder type terminals. For convenience in using a sliding type terminal, various devices that provide semi-automatic operation of a sliding type terminal have appeared.
The aforementioned portable terminals have been made to be more compact and lightweight in consideration of their portability. On the other hand, multimedia functions such as the playing of Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB), motion pictures, and the like are currently becoming more popular. Since a larger size screen and display device are necessary for utilizing such multimedia functions, miniaturization of the portable terminal has reached its limits.
Therefore, efforts for reducing the size of the terminal are focusing on reducing the thickness of the terminal. As the result of such efforts, folder type portable terminals having a thickness of less than about 10 mm have successfully been commercialized. Contrary to the bar type and folder type terminals, the sliding type portable terminals have limits regarding the reduction of their thickness. More specifically, sliding type portable terminals typically have a structure that includes a pair of housings which are connected to each other while facing each other to enable the sliding movement of the housings. Such a layered structure used for connecting and sliding the housings of the sliding type portable terminal makes it difficult to reduce the thickness thereof.